1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the dispensing of labels from a strip incorporating a supply of labels.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known that strips of silicone-treated backing paper are used to carry a continuous series of discrete self-adhesive labels, and that such labels are detached adjacent the point of application by passage over a dispense edge member at which the backing paper is drawn sharply away from a label as the label is about to be dispensed. The label is then applied to an article to be labelled by a roller or a pad, or, in certain instances, by the application of suction to the label followed by a blowing action impelling the label on to an article to be labelled.
Hitherto, such dispense edge members have included a rectilinear edge extending transversely to the path of the backing strip and, at the instant when a label becomes completely detached from the backing strip, the label is, ideally, plane.
The facility of detaching a label from the backing strip depends to a large extent on the comparatively higher stiffness of the label in comparison with the stiffness of the silicone-treated paper backing strip but nevertheless there is a risk, in practice, that the label will "droop" once it has become partially detached and such droop can result in the label becoming bent about a transverse band line and then mis-applied by the application member.